new beginnings

I've had an idea for a tapestry sitting on the back burner for a couple of years. For one reason or another it has been pushed aside in favour of other ideas, but I finally got around to projecting my drawing to scale by the end of last summer. Then it got abandoned, again, as I didn't feel in the right head space to start it. By January I decided it had too much potential to leave languishing in my sketchbook and that if I didn't commit now then I'd never make it.

I always like to have a rough idea of how I'm going to treat a surface, whether it's woven or painted, even if I change my mind as I'm working and I think this was the main reason for the delay. When stuck like this I often turn to smaller studies. I don't always find this to be a necessary step in my creative process, again for painting and tapestry, but they can be useful for experimenting with different techniques, surfaces and colour blends before venturing onto the "real thing."

Often these studies become lovely individual artworks in their own right. Below are two studies which I no longer need for reference so I'm happy to release them into the world. They're also listed for sale on the gallery's website under Jo Original Artwork.

"rockpool edge" *SOLD*

size: 18cm sq. (inc. limewaxed wooden box frame.)

materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool; woven on 8 warps per inch.

"sky ripples"

 size: 17cm (h) x 18cm (w) (inc. limewaxed wooden box frame.)

materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool; woven on 8 warps per inch.

*sold*

In March I started the "real thing" which will be 3ft square when completed. The beginning is a watery rock pool. I love that almost luminous shade of green in seaweed and rocks that can be found around rockpools on the shore.

I've taken a break from weaving for the last couple of weeks as I was feeling burned out and having increasing bother with aches and pains (oh the joys of recurring repetitive strain injury.) Instead of feeling frustrated by it I've used my time to catch up on admin and other things which invariably fall by the wayside when I'm tunnel-visioned with creative work. Hopefully I'll get back to weaving next week with renewed energy.

catch up: artwork of 2022

It's been a while, so long that it has become difficult to know where to start.

Updating this blog has become a bit of a chore and it can be difficult making time for it, especially since Google/Blogger took away the subscribe by e-mail function which adds an extra step of admin at my end for notifying followers. Saying that, I do want to get back into the habit of using this blog and will endeavour to update it more than once a year, but if you're keen to see regular updates of my work it's best to follow the gallery's social media pages. I'm "Hoxa Tapestry Gallery" on all platforms.

And now for a photo dump of pieces I created last year. After finishing my "echoes of the shore" tapestry I spent the summer researching and sketching which resulted in some large drawings and monotypes, some of which I forgot to photograph entirely before they set off to new homes.

Left: "Mirrored sky, Skaill beach"

Right: "Midsummer reflections II, Skaill beach"

Both artworks are oil monotypes with chalk pastel on paper.

Top left: "Bu Sands, Burray." Oil monotype and chalk pastel on paper. 

Top right: "Blue horizon, Birsay." Oil monotype and chalk pastel on paper.

Bottom: "Seapink haze, Brough of Birsay." Oil pastel on paper.

After my Mum passed away in August last year I spent the first few weeks walking the Hoxa shoreline, seeking comfort in the familiarity of the landscape and sketching down on the rocks overlooking Scapa Flow below our gallery and house I grew up in. Orkney had stunning skies and light in August so I spent a lot of time in my sketchbook with pencils and watercolours, observing the combination and quality of light, expanse of sea and sky against the low, unbroken landscape. All my sketches were loose and immediate, capturing the effects of the constantly moving light.

"Fleeting light, Scapa Flow"

Size: approx. 1ft/30cm square

Handwoven tapestry. Materials: cotton, linen, rayon, wool; woven on 8 warps per inch.

*SOLD*

"Fleeting light, Scapa Flow" was inspired by one of my watercolours and was the first artwork I created after Mum's passing. I finished it in October and submitted it to the Pier Arts Centre's Annual Christmas Open Exhibition in Stromness, Orkney where it sold. My Dad helped with my outdoors photoshoot by being my glamorous hand model on the Hoxa shoreline. He did well to hold onto the artwork whilst being buffeted by strong wind!

As well as "Fleeting light, Scapa Flow" I created three smaller tapestries over the winter period.

 "Attry weather"

Handwoven tapestry. Materials: cotton, linen, rayon, wool; woven on 8 warps per inch.

Size: 23cm square

*SOLD*

"Attry" is an Orkney word which describes wild, cold, rainy weather and it felt rather appropriate for this piece. At the time of weaving (late October/early November) Orkney had settled into winter weather with plenty of inky, rainy skies, wild winds and "white horses" on Scapa Flow. 

"Attry weather" joined "Fleeting light, Scapa Flow" on my outdoor photoshoot with Dad. We took it to its place of inspiration, Hoxa Head, looking south to mainland Scotland.

"Stormy hues"

Handwoven tapestry. Materials; cotton, linen, rayon, wool; woven on 8 warps per inch.

Size: 23cm x 7cm

*SOLD*

I was my own glamorous hand model on this occasion, photographing this tiny artwork inspired by the view from the gallery's front door, overlooking Scapa Flow.

"Dister, Windwick"

size 18cm sq. (inc. painted wooden box frame)

materials: cotton, linen, rayon, wool; woven on 10 warps per inch.

*SOLD*

"Dister" is an Orkney weather word for a passing shower and Windwick is a location on the east coast of South Ronaldsay, Orkney. The inspiration for this piece was capturing the fleeting moment of intense tonal contrast and colour on the horizon before a shower passes and clears. I photographed the tapestry alongside the original acyrlic paint and oil pastel drawing from my sketchbook and some of the yarns used in the tapestry.

Usually my tapestries are woven on 8 warps per inch however for this piece I decided to work slightly finer at 10 warps per inch. Although I was happy with the previous smaller tapestries completed in October/November, I felt they could have benefitted from, or have been easier to weave, on a finer warp. The complication of working at a small scale is that you sometimes need to work finer in order to achieve the same level of detail and fluidity in shapes and blending as larger pieces. Basically, it's not necessarily easier or quicker to work smaller!

It has been interesting to look back at my work from last year within one post and reflect on my practice. So often I have a tendency to overthink and agonise whether my ideas and artwork are strong or relevant enough (analysis paralysis is very real) but last winter I just went with my gut and simply responded to the weather in my environment as that's what interested me most. I wasn't in the headspace for undertaking anything big, especially after finishing a large scale piece early on in the year, so it was fun to spend a few months making smaller, more immediate pieces which allowed me to play and experiment with techniques and ideas.

Speaking of undertaking big things, I have started something this year. Watch this space.... (or check out the gallery's social media if you're impatient!) 

echoes of the shore

This is my latest completed tapestry, "echoes of the shore." I started working on it in December last year, following on from "shoreline circles" last October. 

 echoes of the shore

size: approx. 5ft square

materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool, woven on 8 warps per inch on cotton warp.

"Echoes of the shore" is a collection of memories from walks along local beaches, mostly the Sand O' Wright beach in Hoxa, exploring repeated shapes and patterns which echo one another: limpet shells, pebbles, circular marks found on pebbles, sand blisters and scattered edges of waves before they disperse over wet sand. The tapestry is based on and developed from a small watercolour painting in my sketchbook. In the photograph below you can see the sketchbook painting along with the pebble which inspired the main concentric circles in the painting and tapestry. It's tiny but packs a visual punch.

 

On first impression the colours in this tapestry look predominantly grey but there are actually lots of shimmering blues and warm sandy colours running all the way through it. The tonal background allows for subtle shifts in colour and surface texture. 

 

As a naturally very colour-driven person, creating something so "grey" at such a large scale felt potentially boring(!) but that's what the piece needed to be to feel right and to create the effects I wanted. Also wet sand is, after all, wet sand! I found myself longing to reach the blue, tufted circles for a burst of something different. 

 

I think there's an expectation to feel elated after finishing something large which has taken months to complete (in this case 3-4 months weaving, not including research and development) but I just feel zapped, both physically and mentally. I am pleased to be done as the idea is out my system and into the physical world, but as usual I need some distance before I can look at the work again with more objective eyes. On the whole it was a fun piece to work on; I enjoyed experimenting with varying tufting depths and weft thickness and it was a good exercise in weaving circles.

As I completely neglected to post any work in progress photographs here earlier in the year I'll add them now at the end.

January 2022

 

February 2022

March 2022

 

April 2022

 

 

After catching up with general business admin I'm back to the beginning of the creative cycle again:  walking, thinking, sketching and painting. I can never decide whether it's daunting or exciting to start afresh. Hopefully exciting!

shoreline circles

My latest tapestry "shoreline circles" is now winging its way to the Bonhoga gallery in Shetland to take part in their "An Island Christmas" exhibition which runs from 4th November - 24th December 2021. Mum and I have been invited to take part along with three other Orkney creative makers so if you happen to be in Shetland over the next two months you can pop along to see my tapestry and some prints of both our artwork in person.

"Shoreline circles" is an exploration of circular repetition found on the Sand O' Wright beach in Hoxa: pebbles, limpets and scattered edges of waves.

 

"Shoreline circles"

size: approx. 60cm square/ 2ft square (not inc. painted wooden frame)

materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool, woven on 8 warps per inch on cotton warp.

This tapestry follows on from my "found on the shore" sewn drawing series which I created a couple of years ago. I don't believe I'll ever tire of working from the Sand O' Wright beach; I am forever fascinated by repeating marks and shapes found within the shoreline.

The original drawing for "shoreline circles", seen in the first photoraph and also the foreground below, is acrylic paint and oil pastel on paper, 13.5cm square.

This tapestry was a completely different type of weaving compared to my previous piece, "Eynhallow, disappearing island" as it focussed more on quality of line and playing with surface texture rather than translating a multitude of subtle, painterly marks and colour blending. It tested different technical skills but the simplicity of the composition allowed me to work much quicker. After a run of more intricate, complicated tapestries it felt lovely to complete something within a few weeks rather than a few months.

new prints: Eynhallow, disappearing island

I am delighted to announce that I now have photographic prints of my latest tapestry "Eynhallow, disappearing island."

Small and medium sized prints are available to purchase online through the gallery website. They can be found in "jo art prints" in the "shop" drop down menu on the homepage, here's a direct link.

Small, medium and large prints are available, framed and unframed, at the gallery.

blog update: subscribing by e-mail

Just a quick note to say that I've updated the "follow by e-mail" button in the right hand sidebar of my site this week. The e-mail subscription service I previously used through Google was scrapped in July which meant those who previously followed by e-mail stopped getting updates on new blog posts.

Before the service closed I managed to download my list of followers and I have now (hopefully) transferred them to a new mailing list service. Those who previously subscribed by e-mail shouldn't need to do anything to receive future blog posts, you should get notified by e-mail as normal with a link to my latest post (best check your spam filter in case it heads there though.) If you no longer want to receive my blog updates you can opt to unsubscribe from the mailing list at the bottom of the e-mail.

Fingers crossed this has all worked. I am a not a techy person!

In other news I have been working on making photographic prints of my latest tapestry, "Eynhallow, disappearing island". They will be available for sale through the gallery and gallery website within the next week. I'll be back with an update when that's live.

Eynhallow, disappearing island

 

"Eynhallow, disappearing island"

Size: 170 x 76cm (67" x 30")

Materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool. Woven at 8 warps per inch on cotton warp. 

 

 

Handwoven tapestry based on an acrylic painting in my sketchbook (size 20.5 x 9.5cm) of the view looking across to the uninhabited island of Eynhallow from Aikerness beach in Evie, Orkney. 

Eynhallow, also known as Holy Island, is known within local folklore as a disappearing island due to the surrounding turbulent tides. It was also the summer home of the mythical "Finfolk": fearsome, amphibious, human-formed creatures with webbed fingers and toes and scaley skin. They were known to be great swimmers and equally at home on land or under the sea.

A selection of detail photographs below: